Compliance Will Be Rewarded
by Hope and Perseverance
Summary: What happens with Skye touches the Diviner/Obelisk? What does Skye's father have planned for her, SHIELD, and HYDRA? Post 2x08 (Things We Bury) and an AU/suggestion of Episode 2x09 (Ye Who Enter Here).
1. Chapter 1 - Going Away to Come Back

**Compliance Will Be Rewarded**

Author's Note: This is a short story on what I think will happen with Skye and The Obelisk in Season 2. Mix some friendships, SkyeWard (I am a forever shipper, despite I agree that yes Ward is realllllllly losing it…). Likelihood of this happening in the show – very low.

This takes place as an AU rewrite before episode 9 (Ye Who Enter Here). Enjoy!

**Chapter 1: Going Away to Come Back**

"I'll being seeing you soon…I promise."

Those were the words Grant Ward promised Skye in their last conversation together, albeit while he's on the run.

The words were short and confident, but to him, they included an extra dash of meaningful hope. He's been promising multiple things to her recently, and he has every intention to following through his word. First, to promise to find her father for her, and now, hopefully to see her again.

Of course, he didn't imagine that when he'd see her again, it was _her_ with her death grip around his throat, strangling the daylights out of him and a blankly, merciless set of unrecognizable eyes staring back at him.

But of course, a rewind to a couple days ago:

It wasn't supposed to happen this way. He finally was able to meet Skye's father along with Dr. Whitehall, which was no small feat, mind you. He had to fake his brother Christian's death as well as his parents in order to win over instant approval from Dr. Whitehall himself, a "second chance" as the HYDRA head calls it.

_I completely agree_, he remembers himself saying.

As soon as he saw the Doctor draw out the symbols that the weird object called the Diviner emitted, his eyes widened in terror…internally. These were the same symbols Garret drew and Skye knew about. What did this Doctor want to use this Diviner for? Why was he so obsessed in getting Skye to use this Diviner?

It's more than just a weapon, he realized. It's something…else, that the Doctor has planned. Something that even Dr. Whitehall doesn't even know about.

So when he was tasked to welcome the SHIELD team that was on HYDRA's tails to get to the city/Diviner first, he gulped. This was not how he had planned to follow through with his promises. He didn't want her to meet her father this way, and he most definitely did not want to let her be used for impending harm on herself, nor take part in destroying scores of lives. Skye would never, ever want to do something like that. She would die would before she could commit such a monstrosity. She was too good, too pure to do such a thing. He _had_ to get to Skye first, and time was running out.

This was his chance. He was able to get contact with Coulson (a _very_ suspicious, pissed off Coulson) after some desperate attempts with contacting Skye, and let's just say that for once, he was glad that Skye heeded his warning and Coulson agreed to let him watch over her. Coulson's reasoning was that Ward will never hurt Skye, and despite his fallouts with the team, he's the best person to keep her safe and use his role in HYDRA to make sure that's true. Skye was the most important to protect at this moment – forget the HYDRA vs. SHIELD battle for the time being.

"No more, no less," Coulson stated.

So by the time SHIELD arrived a couple days later, he was in position to intercept any charge that may be directed against Skye. As far as the Doctor knows and Whitehall knows, he's just going out to scope out the perimeter of the entrance to this lost city, to make sure that no one related to SHIELD other than Skye is led to the area to activate their plans.

Just as he was to "report" the Dr. Whitehall that it was safe, it was too late. HYDRA had surrounded Coulson's team and managed to snatch Skye away. Despite her new training, she was still no match for a couple dozen deadly HYDRA agents.

He witnessed the entire event unfold. Coulson and a new guy (Lance Hunter, he thinks his name was) with Skye, and while the men took out most of them, some of them still managed to get their hands on her. Ward could only stand from a distance to sniper the agents that get close enough to her, but that all went to hell when the agents found out what he was doing. Now, he had to save his own ass before he could save Skye's.

Coulson managed to get him a set of his comms, while they embarked on their search for Skye together—Ward being in the shadows, especially knowing the surviving HYDRA agents in their fight that just happened likely will have reported his distrusting behavior to Whitehall immediately. Minutes turned to hours as they scoured this ruined city together, Ward having no idea where they could've taken Skye, and it was eating him alive.

He _has_ to find her.

His luck came through then he found a trail of footsteps leading up to a hidden cave-like area, leading into a small door way in.

"I'm about a mile away from our last location, Coulson…heading towards this entrance up about 200 stairs, many boot prints that belong to HYDRA agent boots," he softly said into his comms. He scanned the area – good, no one was in sight.

Quietly making his way up unnoticed, he saw Dr. Whitehall walking up to bottom of the pedestal where Skye and the Diviner were now held, speaking in barely audible tones. Dozens of HYDRA agents surrounded them on guard. Skye's father nodded at Dr. Whitehall, smiling, and Dr. Whitehall smiled back. "Show me this power, dear Skye. Compliance will be rewarded."

Screw stealth out the window, especially when he already lost his sniper in his earlier scuffle with the agents. He ran as fast as he could, only getting about hundred feet to where Skye was just as she grasped the Diviner. He started yelling, "Skye, no….!"

She barely casted a surprised glance at him before an all-consuming bright, white light illuminated from the Diviner and Skye's body, so bright that all of Coulson's team and Whitehall's soldiers were consumed.

Then, he remembers falling, letting darkness overcome him.

…

Author's Note: Theories on what happened…? Can't wait for Tuesday's episode!


	2. Chapter 2 - Orange is the New Black

**Compliance Will Be Rewarded**

Author's Note: Here's chapter 2. Unlike my previous fanfics, I'll be doing "shorter" chapters in this one, so important scenes can be captured more carefully, instead of focusing much on the outside details. Enjoy!

**Chapter 2: Orange is the New Black**

…

When he first comes to, Ward opens his eyes in a daze, quickly checking for any restraints on him but surprised to find none. His head was throbbing in pain, while whole back was aggravated with shagged rock on the ground. He was still in the same position of the floor when he and the rest of the people in the area blacked out. As he sat up, he noticed the bodies of HYDRA agents everywhere. Skye's father lay unconscious not too far from the pedestal, about twenty feet away. Dr. Whitehall himself was lying dead at another end of the darkened cave-like room, blood flowing from his bashed skull—likely from the impact of smashing against the solid rock from the blast of the Diviner earlier.

Ward quickly got to his knees and crawled over to the surrounding bodies to check for pulses—one by one, he flipped them over and checked. There were none.

He was about to stand up but fell back down in shock. Ward was a trained specialist, a trained killer, but he never saw anything in sickening masses like this. He steadied his breathing while he noticed the whole cave-like area was littered with bodies of HYDRA agents and loose rubble. Each body had a clean shot straight through the foreheads of the agents—at least, those that didn't die from impact from slamming into the ground. And at least, the shots didn't leave too much of a blood bath.

_What the hell happened_, he thought. He just remembered running to the main corridor where he saw a bunch of armed HYDRA agents went, led by Skye's father. He remembered her father brought Dr. Whitehall to his side and called Skye to "demonstrate" the Diviner. And that's when he yelled at her, while she glanced at him—

"Skye!" he gasped. He stood up and scanned the room, desperately looking for her. His eyes fell upon a sprawled figure lying on the floor by the pedestal of the Diviner that still sat perfectly upright on the pedestal itself.

Ward barely contained himself as he rushed over to her side, noting her unconsciousness as he rolled her over onto his lap. He gently shook her. "Skye?"

No answer.

He gulped audibly, shakily extending his fingers to feel for a pulse. There were so visible signs of injury on her other than some bruises. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a gentle beat against his hand and sat back. With so many bodies littering the floor, he concluded that this mysterious alien device was a force to be reckoned with, and somehow only Skye was able to activate it. What kind of power is this? And what makes Skye the only one able to touch it?

An episode of static suddenly rang through his ears. "Ward? Ward, are you there?" Coulson's voice came through the comms.

Ward jerked his head back up, just noticing the restoration of the comms that Coulson had been listening the whole time. "What happened? We lost you."

"I'm not too sure," he answered, breathing heavily. "I just remember following Skye and her father to this area, with HYDRA and Dr. Whitehall at their sides. Suddenly Skye touched the Diviner—"

"She _WHAT_?"

"She grasped it, as I was about to yell for her to not to," Ward continued. "She saw me, but it was too late. There was a bright blast that killed all the HYDRA agents around me, including Dr. Whitehall, though I'm not sure about her father. Skye's unconscious, but she should be fine."

Coulson was silent for a moment before replying, "Wait, you said the Diviner killed _everybody_?"

"Yes…"

"And not you?"

"I—" he stopped himself. Coulson was right…why was _he_ spared?

"I don't know why," he said, suddenly really nervous.

Coulson remained silent, but Ward could practically hear him thinking out loud. It was Fitz's voice that suddenly came through.

"Did you say she—she saw you?"

"Fitz, what are you getting at?" Coulson interrupted.

"Sir, Ward just said that 'she saw me', before—before…"

"…before the blast occurred and killed all the HYDRA agents around them," May answered for him. "Ward, is that true?"

"Yes, she saw me…"

"That must be why," Fitz's voice continued. "Somehow looking at you spared you from the blast that almost practically everyone else."

Ward wasn't sure if that was reassuring or not, considering that this artifact still managed to kill almost everyone in sight. Thinking back to the story of Skye's parents and the village that many years ago, was this why the HYDRA agents died? Was this a repeat of that many years ago, with only a spare few alive today? Was he—was he _special_? What about Skye's father?

He was shaken away from his thoughts with Coulson's voice booming through the comms again.

"We'll revisit that later. Right now, we need to take advantage of this situation and get Skye and the Diviner out while we have the chance. We're almost there. Did you hear anything while you were nearing them? Anything at all?" Coulson demanded.

"I could barely hear anything; they were moving quickly, and I was too far away," Ward answered while putting on his heavy-duty gloves to retrieve the Obelisk from the pedestal. "They must've been orders, because I only caught a couple words—like, 'power', and 'compliance'—"

At that moment, his whole body heaved and was thrown across the cave room, skidding and bumping roughly against the dirt and hard rock ground. The bright blast and impact was so loud that he had to cover his ears from ringing. He yelled in surprise and groaned as he landed—what the hell?

The source of the light came from the pedestal area where Skye was—her eyes snapped open, and she jumped into her knees, slowly raising her head as if she was stalking prey.

As soon as Ward was able to sit up, he gazed in front of him and gasped, watching Skye crawl up in a robotic matter. Without looking, she grasped the Diviner again, and it shone its patterns of fiery orange symbols, much like the alien writing that was observed before.

From the corner of his eye, Ward saw Skye's father regain consciousness and staggered to his feet, smirking. "It is time," his hypnotic voice lowly echoed throughout the room. "Let's finish this, my dear."

"What—"

Before Ward could finish his remark, Skye seemed to have materialized right in front of him and slammed a choke hold on his throat, dragging him and crashed him into the rough, rocky walls behind him.

He coughed, gasping for breath and gripped Skye's wrists, trying to prevent the choke hold from completing strangling him. How is she so strong? "Gah-!"

Ward struggled to keep his eyes open as oxygen started getting cut from his brain. Even so, he desperately tried to look into Skye's eyes as she continued her grip on him. She pinned the rest of her body against his on the jagged surfaces, and even with Ward's best training, he couldn't bring himself to fight back—he couldn't, and he wouldn't.

What he saw were the most terrifying, unrecognizable set of black eyes pulsing orange hues that were glaring straight into his.

…


	3. Chapter 3 - Unrecognizable

**Chapter 3: Unrecognizable**

…

"Skye…" Ward whispered, clamping down on her fingers from digging further into his neck. "Please, Skye…"

His comms buzzed again. "Ward, what am I hearing?" Coulson's voice came through.

Ward could only exert his own grunts and strained groans while he struggled to breathe. "I—can't—"

"Ward, what's going on?"

"Can't—breathe…Skye…" he stammered. He tried using his legs to kick the ground from under her, but the force of her body on him was too great.

He attempted to jerk his head side to side…whispering, "Skye, it's me—Ward…Grant. Stop…"

"I'm no longer Skye," she answered, in an uncharacteristically low growl. "I am greater. I'm the universe, and I can see those who've hurt destroyed family…[pressed harder against him] who hurt me…"

Ward stared harder as he felt his back grinding painfully against the sharp rock behind him. "I did—I did hurt you. I'm sorry—"

"There's no room for apologies," she continued. "Only punishment. Only destruction. Only great power that you mortal humans can't understand. You are worthless."

"No…"

"…You are weak…"

"Skye…"

"…you are nothing to me, nothing to anyone…"

"…this isn't you…"

Skye leans in close, and whispers, "…no one's ever loved you…I've never loved you, and never will…"

The grip on his throat was getting tighter, but Ward didn't care. He only concentrated on staring into the dark eyes of the girl in front of him, choking him. His eyes pleaded, begged, for her to recognize him. He was trained to withstand emotional compromise and manipulation, but these blows, these attacks from Skye…he could never brace himself for.

And so, he loosens his grip on her and stops fighting.

"Finish him, my dear," The Doctor ordered. "He stole you from me, him and the man named Coulson. They stole the Diviner from me and tried to eliminate us years ago. They stole your life away from you, from me!"

She nodded, not taking her eyes off Ward for even a second. As if it sensed her movements, the Diviner suddenly appear by her side, floating. She grasped it, and instantly, her body glowed an intense flash of orange before she released it, letting it float back to the pedestal.

Ward pleaded, "Skye, listen to me…[coughs] This isn't you. I know you, Skye. You're stronger than who they say you are. Fight this, please…"

"You're right, I am stronger. [squeezes harder] You have no idea what I'm capable of," she monotonously answered. "Compliance will be rewarded. I've surrendered and I am being rewarded."

"Rewarded…?" Ward gasped.

_HYDRA brainwashing. She's been brainwashed, not controlled_, he thought. _Damnit, HYDRA. Damnit, Ward. How did I not suspect this sooner?_

"Finish him off!" the Doctor yelled.

"Skye, please…GAH!"

Skye managed to knee him in his gut, making him collapse to the ground in front of her, spraying out spit on the floor and coughing. He grabbed onto his throat and gasped to breathe properly again as best as he could, but Skye grabbed his shoulders and started kicking him everywhere: in the gut, in the legs, in the shoulder, and ultimately, his head. He was being thrashed about and he didn't want to do anything about it. She had gotten so strong with her training with May, and now, with her strength re-infused with the Diviner, her strength multiplied to be at a deadly level.

He had no fight in him. No more. As soon as Skye's boot collided with his head, he felt trickling of blood starting to come down his face. His vision blurred, but he wasn't sure if it was the kick or the hopeless tears forming in his eyes.

"Ward? Ward, are you there?" Coulson's voice came through the comms. "We're almost there. Copy? What is going on?"

He didn't answer. He was concentrating on the hatred looks shared in Skye's eyes and her father's. He knew he was dying, and he was okay with that as his eyes started to close…

…

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Fitz said, scurrying closely with his team. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know," Coulson answered, hurrying towards Ward's location. "I couldn't make out much in the comms, but it sounds like HYDRA brainwashed her and coupled with her touching the obelisk—Diviner, whatever, the possibility of destruction that she can cause just multiplied."

"We have to find a way to reverse this brainwashing," Simmons said. "It's a logical sequence to activate this trigger in her head, so we need to find another counter-logical sequence to reverse it."

"But how? She's being completely controlled! Her strength and everything about her has been amplified by the obelisk," May said.

Fitz snapped up. "That's it!"

"Huh?"

"The obelisk! We need to destroy it!" he continued. His logic and reasoning got a lot quicker with these months of help with Mack and Simmons at his side.

"How the hell do you destroy something that is alien? Bombing it doesn't exactly work, let alone if any of us touch it, we'll all die…." Trip trailed.

"We'll have to make Skye destroy it," Fitz reasoned. "She is the only one who's able to touch this without suffering any consequences. We have to reverse her brainwashing first, then allow her at that time to destroy it."

"He has a point, sir," Trip said. "We need to get her away from her Father, who seems to be controlling her moves and brain; we need to get HYDRA away from her, and completely isolate her from everything except us and the obelisk."

"Her father is completely tied to her," Lance said. "We can't even get him to side step away from her for a damn moment!"

"He's drawn to the obelisk," Simmons said. "And Fitz said himself, you need to destroy the obelisk. But to destroy it, we need to isolate him from it. It's a catch-22."

"Bloody hell," Fitz muttered. "No one else can remove the obelisk without getting killed from touching it first."

Coulson suddenly stopped in his tracks. "I can."

"Phil, NO—" May started.

He turned to her. "I can. I'm the only other person who has been infused with the GH-325 and reacted to it."

"Not to mention you reacted badly to it," May snapped. "Don't you recall all those times you were madly drawing out those carvings? Night, day, desk, wall, anywhere and anytime you could! We cannot risk losing you along with Skye!"

"We can't lose Skye!" Coulson yelled. "I'm her only chance, our only chance, to get her back. Ward for all we know has been severely injured or getting killed at her hand already. What's to stop her from getting out and destroying us or herself in the end? The world? Like HYDRA's original intentions?"

He hurried his pace to lead his group up the stairs, finally reaching the area where Skye and Ward were currently at. _I am not losing my baby girl to HYDRA or this alien piece of crap_, Coulson thought.

…


	4. Chapter 4 - Hath No Other Way

**Chapter 4: Hath No Other Way**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of updates; I've been sick recently. But here's the next chapter! Can't wait til tonight's Winter finale…! **

…

"What kind of sequence are we using to break the brainwashing?" Fitz asked as he and the rest of the team followed Coulson, who was far ahead at the top.

"The lab I was in when undercover at HYDRA was located close to a secret room where Mr. Bakshii and Dr. Whitehall frequently visited," Bobbi said, scaling ahead of him. "With my security access in HYDRA, I used to have to deliver 'goods' to them at request. The room was always a patterned, with certain visual cues that were soothing enough to coax someone into accepting brainwashing. Patterns, music are commonly used, but mostly mention of weaknesses…anything."

"But what does Skye find coaxing? Or soft for? Or …like you said?" Hunter asked.

A moment of silence fell before Simmons broke it. "Of course!"

Fitz and Bobbi stopped. "What?"

"Fitz, the Dwarfs, get the Dwardfs ready!" she exclaimed. "Hurry!" She knew that there were only several things that her hacker friend was easily triggered by, and she hoped that they still were true.

Fitz immediately caught on and nodded vigorously. He handed his pack to Bobbi and pulled out his tablet, configuring the little robots as he continued his ascent up the stairs. Simmons prayed that Coulson already started distracting her father; he had to be away from her for this to work.

…

After what seemed like hours of physical punishment, Skye stopped her violent beating and thrashing. Ward laid on the floor, breathing heavily and eyes barely open to gaze upward toward Skye's lurking form. She just stood there, glaring down at him, but not moving an inch closer to him, as if she was awaiting orders. Her contempt look he reasoned that she was just releasing her pent up anger of him on him, and release she did. No one has ever seen Grant Ward lying where he is on the ground on a mission, beaten and bruised without a desire to fight and complete the mission.

He lay there and allowed the thoughts to bombard him all at once. There was no logic to the hurricane of reasoning in his head. Only a couple days before was he back training for this mission, his first mission, since he was released on probation. The conversations he had with Skye threw into his mind, him recalling how nervous she was about the op.

(flashback)

**He watches her from across the control room with a sad, pleading look in his eyes, but dares not to show it on his face. As Coulson walked out, he turned to him, threatening "If you hurt her, I **_**will**_** kill you."**

**It was a much more conservative threat from Coulson than the previous ones when the team begrudgingly accepted his help. Others, including the new members of the team, sent death glares at him whenever he passed them. **

**It was soon just him and Skye left in the control room. She was busily trying to keep her distance and not look at him, while she continued swiping away at the various screens in front of her to map the location of the city/Obelisk. He hesitated, knowing she could only react one of two ways: pissed or suspicious (he wouldn't be surprised).**

**What surprised him was that those were neither the reactions he got.**

**He started walking over to her. "Skye…"**

"**Don't," she said, continuing to work. **

**He hesitated, but braved on to continue. "I promise—I'll keep out of your way. I just want to help you."**

**No response.**

"**I won't let anything happen to the team," he continued. "I promised once before that you'll be safe. I know you're angry for seeing me—"**

"**It's not just me seeing you here," Skye said, solemnly pausing in her work. "It's—it's having you back on missions again with me. With us. [looks up at him] I missed those times. I'm not supposed to miss them, but—I do."**

_**With me**_**, he thought. **

**He paused for a long moment before he found his voice again. How was he supposed to respond to her with that dejected look on her face? **

"**I'm sorry," he whispered, slowly extending an arm to her. "I—I don't know what else to say. I'm sorry you have to go through this. It's my fault, and—"**

**She turned to him so suddenly that he stopped in his tracks, a little gasp formed on his lips. The sad, watery eyes shocked him as she responded, "I know. It's just—it'll take time."**

**He nodded in understanding. "I'll wait for you. I'll wait as long as you need me to."**

(end flashback)

_And I'll still wait_, he thought dizzily, eyes barely open. _I might not be able to make it out today, but I'll still wait. At least she'll be okay. Coulson is coming for her soon. And I've fulfilled my promises…_

At least the last scene he will see is her. Eyes slowly started to close…

…

"HEY!"

The Doctor and Skye whirled to the sound of the voice. Coulson was standing at the entrance, the outside sunlight adding to his magnanimity of the background he stood. He stared at Skye and her father, but not without a quick glance at the bodies on the ground, which almost made him sick. He saw Whitehall's dead body from across the room in a wretched position. He also spared a glance at Ward, who was motionless on the ground close to Skye. He inwardly gulped—the best specialist he knows looks…dead. This situation isn't looking good all.

"He wasn't the one who took your daughter," Coulson stated, bringing his attention back up to the Doctor. "And neither were we. We were the ones who rescued your daughter from the village those years ago."

The Doctor glared at him in disbelief. "I find that hard to believe as you all came as an army to battle a blood bath at MY HOME!"

"That wasn't us!" Coulson argued, slowly stepping in. "That was HYDRA. The ones you killed before, and the one's you just killed now."

The Doctor broke out into a maniacal laughter, as he stumbled forward. He shakily pointed a finger at Coulson. "You think you know everything. You think you know how these years were like. And you think you know what happened now. [turns to glance at Skye] You think I killed these agents? Guess what: my dear daughter, she unleashed her power, her inner strength, and with this Diviner, she finally had gotten her revenge on HYDRA. OUR revenge. For killing her mother and destroying our family."

Coulson stepped down slowly towards the father-daughter pair, keeping his eyes intent on the Doctor. "What if I told you we have the same motive?"

The Doctor blinked in surprise. "You and I can never share the same motive, dear Coulson. Never."

"Maybe not always," Coulson responded. "But I know that HYDRA destroyed your family. They destroyed mine too. My team. The woman I loved."

The Doctor's face faltered a bit. Coulson took advantage of this and continued, thinking back to his past with Audrey the cellist (AN: see episode 1x19 for that reference.). "She was hunted down by another man obsessed with her, who was also hunted down by HYDRA. I heard how you lost Skye's mother—"

"THAT'S NOT HER NAME!"

Coulson held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, not her name. I heard how you lost your daughter's mother, the woman you loved, a part of a brutal murder.

"You know nothing, NOTHING, about the past 25 years for me. Seeing her butchered body lying there in the ditch, and seeing my daughter taken away from me. NOTHINIG."

Coulson inwardly gasped at the mental images flashing in his head, but suppressed them as he continued. "I saw family and friends killed right before my eyes, the world that I lived in destroyed before my eyes. The woman I loved was brutally captured and tortured before I never saw her again…before I was killed."

The Doctor didn't need to know the whole story about Audrey or the battle of New York, and he didn't need to know what was true or not in his personal account. But now, this was the only way to distract this mad man, and Coulson will take the chance.

"You were—killed? How is it possible you're standing here now?"

Coulson smiled. "I supposed I was worthy to be saved."

_That_ intrigued the Doctor even more. He smirked, stepping past Skye over to Coulson. "Worthiness is something that's fated, not chosen, dear Coulson. This Diviner is the only object that decides worthiness, and so far, only my daughter and a select few have shown this worthiness."

"Tell that to those who revived me."

"Are you saying that you can hold this Diviner? That it will choose to let you live?"

Coulson smiled. "Only the Diviner can decide that. Isn't that what you want? To reunite with your daughter and gather everyone else who is worthy?"

"Gathering them is the first step. Putting them together to unleash its power…that is our reward. Perhaps it was destiny to find you after these years."

"Your daughter is reunited with you, and you've seen what your daughter can do with this Diviner. You've seen what Raina could do. What about what I could do?"

The Doctor really smiled at that point, stopping literally face to face with Coulson. "I suppose it's destiny, after all. Another piece to completing this puzzle. And IF you're not worthy as it decides [turns to Ward and the massacre before them], at least you won't be alone."

Coulson nods his head in silent agreement; the hairs on his arms started to stand as nervousness crept through his mind, but he hid it well from his face. This was it.

The Doctor also turns to Skye and nods his head. He really was obsessed with this object. Skye summoned the Diviner to her father and stayed in her position, eying her father suspiciously. "As it floated before Coulson, the Doctor smiled and took a step back. "Show us, and let us be amazed."

Coulson steadily reached his arm forward towards the Diviner. As his hand got closer to the Diviner, he mentally said his good-byes, not knowing what could come of this. In one final reach, he grasped the object and it started glowing in yellow and grey hues. His eyes grew wide and tried to pull the object towards him before he felt his body collide with the Diviner in a convulsing matter.

All he remembered next was that he saw Simmons appearing at the entrance where he was earlier, before the whole cave flashed in an orange glow…

…

**AN**: What do you think is going to happen to Coulson and Skye? Tune in next, to find out!


	5. Chapter 5 - The Way of Life

**Chapter 5: The Way of Life**

**Author's Note: So obviously since this is an AU started before the winter finale, I'm still taking this in the direction that I originally saw it was going to go. Having this time to rewrite my previous storyline will make it a little more…twisted, in all senses of the word. **

**Sorry this took longer than anticipated to write…first the holidays, then it's been a battle between getting sick again and family stuff! But here's another chapter to you all!**

…

It was happening so fast. One moment he was reaching to grip the Diviner, and then he was whisked into a world of swirling orange, which then burst into a scene of green meadow in front of his eyes. He watched as blades of grass grew before him, flowers blooming, and trees branching.

It was beautiful.

So much vitality, so much hope, so much beauty…so much….

…orange?

The next thing Coulson knew he collapsed on his knees and his entire surroundings were back to the cave. Darkness plagued his vision again, and no longer were the visions of serene he saw.

Fitz and the rest of the team had just made it into the cave as the glowing started who promptly stopped in their tracks and shrieked.

The Doctor's eyes greedily watched Coulson and the glowing Diviner, while Skye just stared, puzzled.

And just as quickly as the hue appeared, it faded away, and he felt like he just awoke from a slumber, refreshed with a surge of unexplainably unnatural power…only this time, he wasn't the only one.

Because now, staring ahead and surrounding Coulson, a ring of formerly dead HYDRA agents around them were awake...dazed, but awake. Groans of confusion sounded and bristling of bodies on the ground moved in hesitation at their state…what happened?

Not too far away, Ward's eyes also snapped open and he gasped for air, dizzily taking a moment to glance around before pushing himself up.

Coulson darted his eyes around in terror. This device…this THING…what just happened?

The Doctor blinked his eyes in amazement. Shaking his head, he strutted slowly in Coulson's direction. "This power….!"

"I can't let go of this thing!"" Coulson said, panicking, trying to shake off the Diviner from his grip. What did this thing do to him? What was the meaning of that vision he saw?

"What is this power you have…!?"

"You know this thing better than I do, and you're asking me!?" Coulson yelled, rolling his eyes.

The Doctor shakily pointed a finger at Coulson. "You, you're ruining my plans! My long time set up to finally get my revenge…you-YOU—"

He turns to Skye and yells, "Destroy him! He's ruined our lives, our plans…!"

Skye obediently dusted off her boots, ready to charge towards Coulson. There was no recognition of the man whom she once regarded like a biological father. She was bent on compliance and submission.

The Doctor angrily strutted closer, but staying far enough back to allow Skye do her handiwork. Coulson in fear gripped the Diviner harder and started to raise it up to defend himself, only for it to glow again. He couldn't use it as a weapon to attack Skye, no; he regarded her as a daughter, someone who he never knew he was missing as a role in his life. He could not harm her. He stopped his arm midair, and the Skye slowed in her charge towards him. She shielded her eyes as the cave glowed orange again.

Ward watched in awe, as he squinted his eyes towards the glow. Skye wasn't the only one who could touch the Diviner…apparently Coulson could too. But will the affect be the same for him as for Skye? She has the ability (or so it seems) of mass destruction…what about Coulson?

From a distance, FitzSimmons and the rest of the team shielded their eyes at the site of the glow, but couldn't believe their eyes. The blood bath of bodies they had anticipated from Coulson's comms earlier were now a modern day place of resurrection.

This time, once the hue subsided, more formerly dead agents were now awake, and Coulson was even more afraid.

Slumped across the cave, the formerly dead Dr. Whitehall shook himself awake, shaking off the blood mess on his head before glancing around, unaware of the tradeoff that had occurred earlier between the Doctor and Coulson.

The Doctor was _pissed_. "YOU BROUGHT THESE DEVILS BACK TO LIFE!" the Doctor roared, shakily pointing a finger to Coulson. "You're not a gifted. You're a CURSE!"

"I beg your pardon—I was fine until I touched this THING! THIS is a curse!" Coulson blared, finally able to throw the Diviner away from his grip into the ground.

The Diviner just clunked onto the rocky, jagged ground with no visible mark of damage upon impact.

Well, smashing it obviously doesn't work.

The Doctor laughed. "You think just getting rid of it will take away your curse? You think that just throwing it on the ground would be enough to destroy it? How naïve you are…!"

At that moment, he lunged towards Coulson, and in a split second, he regretted throwing the Diviner to the ground, because now he had no weapon to defend himself. The image of the insane, blood thirsty doctor charging towards him made Coulson to also forget about the gun he had at his side. All he could think of was to get Skye, to bring her back, and stop the massive transformation, or whatever it is, that could happen if the Diviner falls into the wrong hands—HYDRA's hands, or should we say, HYDRA's gifted. Skye is now in her father's hands, and was that even better than in HYDRA's hands…how to get her back?

He held up his fists in preparation to throw a punch but again, as he quickly held them to protect himself, the Doctor just stopped in his tracks and froze wide-eyed, before collapsing to the ground.

Coulson spun around and saw Simmons pointing an ICER in his direction, with a fierce look of determination of her face. "Game's over," she announced. She nodded her head without taking her eyes off of her former target to Fitz. "Hurry, activate the dwarves! Get the Diviner!"

All seven little drones flew out in formation from behind her, zooming towards the center of the action in the cave. They paused for a moment as their little yellow lights started to focus towards the Diviner.

Skye must've sensed what was happening, because as the dwarves started to move, she had already swooped in to grab the Diviner before zooming back into her original spot. "You will not take away my rewards," she spoke in a monotonous tone. She turned her head between Coulson and Simmons, watching Simmons slowly put her ICER down in shock. "And you will not succeed."

"Skye, listen to me," Simmons reasoned, slowly walking over to her. "Whatever you think you are getting in return…it's nothing. I've seen it. All of this will only benefit HYDRA and the chaos that'll be released if you go with them. To them, the diviner is just a weapon, and so are you. Your father—"

"You SHOT my father!" Skye yelled. "All he wanted was to have those whole destroyed our lives pay for what they did! Is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask to avenge what was taken from us?"

"But that's not the way to avenge your mother, or anyone you lost! Whitehall has lured you to activate the Diviner for HIS own use! Your father just took advantage of it to kill him! Don't you see all the bodies you've killed? This isn't you!"

"Really?" she challenged. Two of Fitz's dwarves chose that moment to swoop down and attempt to fire a laser beam to knock the Diviner out of her hand, but without even adjusting her eyes or position, she rendered the dwarves useless as it fell to the ground. She chose that time to turn to Fitz, who stumbled backwards a bit.

"Sneezy and Dopey!" he cried. "Skye—"

Before he could say anything else, Skye had jumped over and gave Fitz a choke hold, much like what Ward received earlier.

Simmons screamed, and Fitz dropped his control tablet, bewildered and gasping for air. "How's this for being 'me'?" Skye asked, tightening her grip.

"Skye…" Fitz breathed.

Bobbi sprung on her next. From behind, her two batons swung out to release her grip on Fitz's neck, but she detected it coming. From behind, she shoved Fitz to Bobbi's batons instead, knocking him out unconscious, while releasing him and back-kicked Bobbi's legs, swooping from under her and causing her to land practically face first in the ground.

"Bobbi!" Lance dashed up from behind was worried….and _pissed_. As much as he ever denied caring for Bobbi on the surface, he deeply loved her and cared for her deep down. And no one, not even his favorite little sis' figure Skye, will lay a hand on her without going through him first.

"Bloody hell…." Lance muttered, pulling Bobbi's unconscious form up to his side while pulling out his ICER to shoot.

But, the shot was never made…at least, not at Skye. Because at the last minute again, she managed to rip the pistol at lightning speed from Lance's hand and shot him down instead.

"Stop it, Skye!" Simmons screamed, firing her ICER and missing by inches. Big mistake. She also had it twisted out of her grip and fired on her instead. How was she so fast? How did she just shot down Coulson's entire team in mere seconds?

Suddenly, a shot—a real gunshot—rang from across the cave.

Standing with a pistol in hand aiming it at Skye, was none other than Coulson himself.

…


End file.
